DISTRICT 5280

ROTARY E-CLUBof The Greater San Fernando Valley

M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R

march

2013

E - C L U B M E E T I N G S :

2 n d M o n d a y s , 6 : 1 5 p . m . A N D4 t h S u n d a y s , 1 2 : 3 0 p . m .

L O C AT I O N :

Denny’s RestaurantTHE FIREPLACE ROOM5525 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91411

UPCOMING CLUBMEETING DATES

MONDAYS, 6:15 p.m.

MARCH 11APRIL 8

SUNDAYS, 12:30 p.m.

MARCH 24APRIL 28

VISIT our E-Club 24/7 at:

http://www.rotaryeclubgreatersfv.org

Email: rotaryeclub818@gmail.com

@RotaryEGreaterSFV

The Rotary E-Club of the Greater San Fernando Valley recently seized an opportunity to assist the Greater San Fernando Valley with disposing of and recycling the many electronic devices accumulated in households. The E-Club held an E-Waste collection event on February 9th. The now-named E-Club E-Waste E-vent asked patrons to drop off their used electronic equipment at the Valley Presbyterian Church School parking lot at 9240 Haskell Avenue in North Hil ls. Claudia Moreland , principal of the school and a friend of the e-club, provided the venue for this E-Club fundraiser.

The community generously responded dropping off their used electronics inc lud ing computer equ ipment , televisions, cell phones, and cables. We

were surprised to see that even flat screen televisions were being recycled. Recycling electronics is critical to the environment and to consumers who cannot afford new items. Electronics recyclers repair, refurbish and resell functioning electronics as used products both a t home and abroad . A l so , recovering items such as plastic, steel, aluminum, copper, go ld and s i l ve r a l lows these resources to be used in new products.

The E-Club received a por t ion o f the proceeds and plans to use the funds generated from the E-vent to fund E-Club projects such as this year’s End Po l io “Dance for the Chi ldren” scheduled for September 21st.

E-CLUB E-WASTE E-VENT

C O M M U N I t y e - w a s t e d r o p - o f f a t v a l l e y p r e s b y t e r i a n s c h o o l p a r k i n g l o t

Rotary E -Club of Greater SFV

Club Informatione-club projects

2012-2013 Officers

PRESIDENTMel Powell rotarymelpowell@aol.com

PRESIDENT ELECTSara Vasquez sara.kaltgrad@gmail.com

SECRETARYNancy Schmidt nlschmidt@earthlink.net

TREASURERYoko Matsui goyoko@gmail.com

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Arnold Yoko Matsui

Brenda Bradford Mel Powell

Patty Givant Nancy Schmidt

Roy Glickman Sara Vasquez

Club Committees

ADMINISTRATIONChair: Nancy Schmidt nlschmidt@earthlink.net

PUBLIC RELATIONSChair: Patty Givant patgiv@aol.com

ROTARY FOUNDATIONChair: Roy Glickman roysg@wgn.net

SERVICE PROJECTS/MEMBERSHIPChair: Mel Powell rotarymelpowell@aol.com

Club Brochurehttp://www.rotaryeclubgreatersfv.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BROCHURE1eclubv2.pdf

March is Literacy Month.

Ongoing E-Club Projects

International Mother Language DayThe E-Club is continuing its support of International Mother Language Day by visiting two schools in March. 5th and 6th graders at Tarzana E lementar y Schoo l and Va l l ey Pr e s b y te r i a n Church School will learn He#o, P l e a s e, T ha nk You, Peace and L o ve in a se lect ion o f languages. The E -Club gives each student a booklet containing written versions of the words in 44 languages. More information about signing up for the presentations is forthcoming in an e-mail from President Mel Powell.

Letters to TohukuThe E-Club is continuing to work on our project supporting victims of the 2011 East Japan earthquake and tsunami. At our recent February 24 meet ing , c lub members wrote messages of friendship to be sent to children attending elementary schools in the affected area of Japan. Club member Yoko Matsui (with Roy Glickman and David Arnold in

photo) is heading the project. The first batch of letters from local American children studying the Japanese language will arrive in time for the 2nd anniversary of the March 11 earthquake.

E-Club Looking to PartnerE -Club Pres ident-Elect S a r a Vasquez is investigating club support of a private, charitable boarding school for girls in Thailand. The Dhammajarinee Witthaya School teaches girls about the importance of education and the development of sk i l l s that w i l l l ead to future employment. Many of the girls strive for college degrees. The school is administered by Thai Buddhist nuns of the Thai Nun Institute, Paktho Branch, Ratchaburi province. The E-Club is considering partnering with other Rotary clubs and applying for a Foundation grant. The objectives of the school are to aid young women who are orphaned, poor , or with family problems to have equal education and to develop their full potential; to protect young women in at-risk social groups; to culture

ethical morality from childhood; and, to provide young women who lack opportunity to study in a warm, caring, safe and happy environment.

E-Club President’s MessageIs It Worth Being a Rotarian?

t the regional Presidents -Elect Training Seminar during the weekend of February 22-24, each meal session featured a great keynote speaker. But

perhaps even more importantly each session also introduced us to beneficiaries of Rotary Club projects.

We met a mentally challenged man who holds a full-time job thanks to mentoring provided by a Rotary Club project. We met two gentlemen who have reintegrated into our world after many years in prison, now holding gainful employment and doing al l they can to contribute to society in a positive way. We met an amazing young woman who overcame poverty and family tragedy to go from RYLA (a fantastic Rotary Youth Leadership program) to earn a Fulbright scholarship to MIT, with Rotary Clubs assisting her with living expenses not covered by the scholarship.

It was a reminder that, on the other end of everything a Rotary Club does for the world, there is a real person whose life is improved.

Here are some examples from our Rotary Club, to remind us why we are here.

The WAPIs (Water Pasteurization Indicators) we helped the Rotary Club of Calabasas finish assembling will be delivered to water-poor villages in Uganda within the next ten days. If only one child thrives because we helped, was it worth being a Rotarian that day?

Two years ago when we presented our International Mother Language Day project, one ver y shy ch i ld ra i sed h i s hand , uncharacteristically (according to the Principal) asked to come to the front of the room, and helped us teach his classmates the words in Farsi. If only one child gains that boost of confidence to believe he can become anything he wants to be, was it worth being a Rotarian that day?

Because we have danced for the children, somewhere in the world there are more than 15,000 children who will never get polio. Impressive. But if, thanks to our efforts, even one child is not paralyzed--a healthy child,

because of you--was it worth being a Rotarian that day?

How many families have eaten a full meal because of our food drives? How many lives will we save with our bone marrow donation campaign? Is it worth being a Rotarian?

Yeah, I think so, too.

Mel PowellPresident, Rotary E-Club of The Greater San Fernando Valley (provisional)

A

UPCOMING EVENTSTBAInternational Mother Language Day presentation at Tarzana Elementary SchoolMonday, March 116:15, Club dinner/meetingWednesday, March 13International Mother Language Day presentation at Valley Presbyterian SchoolSunday, March 2412:30, Club luncheon/meeting - Speaker Nallely Castro-Bello, PE RC West SFV “All About Rotaract!”

Birthday: February 25Born: New York CityJoined Rotary: February 2010Profession: Mathematics ! TeacherKids: Stephanie, teacher of Pilates teachers, and Gary, a noise and vibration engineerPets: All pets are porcelain - no vet bills What Rotarians Should Know About You: I enjoy acting in local small theater productions.

Judy Glickman

MEMBER PROFILE

Rotary News E-CLUB NEWS

BirthdaysHappy Birthday to E-Club President Mel Powell who celebrates his birthday on March 29th.

Club CamaraderieDiscussions are underway between the E-Club and RC Calabasas to co-sponsor the Interact Club at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in Van Nuys.

A Message from President-Elect Sara Vasquez

President-­‐Elect  Sara  Vasquez  with  E-­‐Club  President  Mel  Powell  at  PETS

The 2013 Presidents Elect Training Seminar (PETS) provided me with vital information and inspiration for the upcoming year as president of the Rotary E-Club of the Greater San Fernando Valley. The theme for the 2013-14 year is “Engage Rotary – Change Lives.” The three-day training gave me the opportunity to meet fellow future club presidents, their spouses, Rotary leaders, and Rotary beneficiaries, and to create a network of friends to expand my range of service. I collected a myriad of tools to set and accomplish the goals for our club next year.

Last year I was a member of the Mid San Fer nando Val ley Rotar y Club , who nominated me to be President for the 2012-13 year. Since my job took me to Downey, I could no longer attend my club’s

Thursday noon meetings or fulfill my presidency. Consequently, I joined the E-club. Thanks to the flexibil ity and convenient meeting times of our club, I did not have to leave Rotary and I could continue to serve. Before I knew that my work location would change, I had attended PETS last year. This year’s format was different from last year ’s. Last year participants had selected classes ahead of t ime, and we would roam from one conference room to another to attend our elected classes. This year, each district stayed together throughout the trainings and the trainers were the ones who rotated from room to room. This was helpful in that we all received the same content, and we were able to network with other club presidents in our own district. The trainers were also very mindful of engaging us in meaningful group activities rather than using a lecture format.

We a l l l ea r ned about Pau l Harr i s Fel lowships, Polio Plus, the Rotar y Foundation, leadership skills, planning our year, engaging volunteers, running the club, and running meetings. Our networking allowed us to share various service projects and endless possibilities of service in our communities and abroad. The speakers during meals were either great leaders in Rotary or beneficiaries of Rotary’s service. Oh, and by the way, the food was excellent! There are other clubs who are willing to work with us on projects that serve our communities. As one of our inspirational speakers, Cliff Dochterman said, “You would be surprised how many people need you, and what small, random acts of kindness can do to make a difference in the lives of others.”  This is what we do as Rotarians.

As a result of attending PETS this year, I’ve decided to wear my Rotary pin proudly to work at least once a week so that people can ask me about our great organization. I want to make sure that we all know how to describe the good work that we do in a couple of brief sentences. We should be prepared to say that we are 1.2 million members strong, and we serve the needs and concerns of communities all around the world in promoting peace and conflict reso lut ion , d i sea se prevent ion and treatment, water access and sanitation,

maternal and child health, education and literacy, and economic development.

I am honored to be your president elect, and I thank you for your confidence in me. I look forward to working with each and every one of you. Together, let us go forth to serve. By engaging, we are changing people’s lives.

DISTRICT NEWSRotaract Ethics Forum Rotarians are invited to attend the upcoming Rotaract Ethics Forum Team Presentation Competition, to be held at Loyola Marymount University at the Conrad N. Hilton Center for Business on March 23rd. The competing Rotaract Clubs will be presenting their positions on ethical issues, while applying the Rotary Four-Way Test . Contact Co z e t te Ve rg a r i a t CozetteRotary5280@gmail.com to attend.

ROTARY INTERNATIONALRotary  MonthMarch is Literacy Month.

End Polio NowE-Club member Roy Glickman reported at our February 24th meeting that RI is asking members to take pictures illustrating

their “This Close” campaign to end polio. Photos will be posted at EndPolio.org.

Sara, Nancy, Judy, Roy, Natalia, Mel, Patty, Yoko and David show we’re “this close” to ending polio.